Mark Allen begins book tour for The Art of Competition

Triathlon Magazine September 10, 2014

Mark Allen, six-time Hawaii Ironman World Champion, coach, award-winning author, and motivational speaker, starts his book-signing tour of his newly released, Kickstarter funded book, The Art of Competition, next Wednesday September 17 at the Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colorado.

The coffee table collector’s book features 90 of Allen’s most significant and motivational quotes that capture the mindset of a champion. The quotes are set against stunning two-page images from nature—what the promotional copy refers to as ‘the evocative photos are of scenes far more enduring or lasting than our individual successes.’

The chapters within The Art of Competition ‘represent key themes that are vital to this process of turning challenge and competition into art’ – themes such as Change, Fear, and Being Stuck. The book is positioned as being ideal for anyone in business, sports, or life, who ‘seeks to change a challenge into art, who needs a game-changing approach to a different outcome.’

“We all face challenges, difficult times, and self-doubt, as I did with six Ironman defeats,” explained Allen. “When I stopped thinking about victory or failure and focused on flow of movement and mind-set, I overcame my own limits and put in the performances that earned six Ironman victories.”

The quotes in The Art of Competition came to Allen while on retreat in Japan with his spiritual teacher Brant Secunda, nearly 10 years after retiring from competition and Ironman racing. The words to explain the mind-set he had found had eluded him to this point.

Jim Collins, author of bestsellers Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall, wrote in his forward, “That is the artistic gift, the ability to see or perhaps sense something others cannot quite put their finger on and use art to express it, and that is what Mark has done here. He has captured the inner terrain of the true competitor through photos and quotes, unlike anything I have seen before.”

This book is for anyone in business, sports, or life, who seeks to change a challenge into art, who needs a game-changing approach to a different outcome.

Mark Allen is a six-time Hawaii Ironman World Champion. He was named ‘The World’s Fittest Man’ by Outside magazine, voted ‘The Greatest Endurance Athlete of All Time’ by ESPN, and selected as ‘The Greatest Triathlete Of All Time’ by Triathlete magazine.

He is a motivational speaker, coach and award-winning author. Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You, co-authored with Brant Secunda, received the prestigious Nautilus Book Award in the category of Health, Healing and Energetic Medicine in 2010. He runs MarkAllenCoaching, training professional and age-group triathletes.